»50 
28 
py 1 



THE GARRISON MOB. 



-1 I 



V 



PAPERS 



RELATING TO 



THE GARRISON MOB. 



EDITED BY 



THEODORE LYMAN, 3^. 




CAMBRIDGE: 
WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, 



rHINTKr.S TU TlIK UXIVEIISITY. 



1870. 






University Press : Welch, Bigelow, & Co- 
Cambridge. 



HARDLY a night passes in any of our large cities 
witliout greater violence clone to person and to 
property than occurred in the so-called "Garrison 
mob." Although its results scarcely entitle it to the 
name of a riot, it has more historical importance 
than can be claimed by some battles. This wretched 
street fight was indeed the first muttering of that 
awful storm which was to bm^st over this country a 
quarter of a century later. 

In October of 1835 there had come to Boston 
Mr. George Thompson, a Scotchman, who proposed 
to speak publicly in favor of the abolition of negro 
slavery. This was a discussion which few peoj^le 
then heard patiently, especially from the lips of a 
foreigner ; and a considerable excitement followed. 

There was to be a meeting of the Female Anti- 
slavery Society, and the Mayor, Theodore Lyman, Jr., 
sent a messenger to Mr. Garrison, editor of an anti- 
slavery paper called the Liberator, to ask if Tliomp- 
son would then speak; because, in such a case, it 
would be necessary to provide additional police. 
Mr. Garrison replied that Thompson would not be 



present, and consequently no unusual precautions 
were taken. The meeting took place at the rooms 
of the Society, No. 46 Washington Street, in the 
afternoon of October 21st. 

The Mayor was soon told that the few constables 
on the spot were not enough to preserve order, and 
he went in person with more men. The mob be- 
came larger and more threatening, but was prevented 
by the police from entering the building. Mr. Gar- 
rison, considering his person in imminent danger, es- 
caped by a back window into Wilson's Lane, where 
he was seized and roughly handled by the rioters, 
and was dragged into State Street. There he was 
rescued by the authorities, and taken into the Old 
State House, a portion of which was then used as a 
City Hall. As night was drawing on, and the mob 
seemed likely to grow too strong for the constables, 
it was thought best to place Mr. Garrison for- safety 
in the jail, and to this end he was committed, ^;ro 
forma, as implicated in a riot. He was taken from 
the City Hall, placed by dint of hard fighting in a 
carriage, and driven safely to the jail. The next 
morning he was set free, having sustained certain 
damage to his clothing, but none in his person. 

Such is a sketch of this riot, and one that all 
parties will assent to as true. But there are other 
and important points which are by no means so 
easily settled. The following newspaper articles will 
bring out, quite emphatically, some of these points, 
and will serve to introduce a general consideration 
of the affair. 



No. I. 

[From the Boston Daily Advertiser of Wednesday, November 3, 18C9.] 
TFIE GARRISON MOB. 

To THE P^DITORS OF THE BoSTON DaILY ADVERTISER: 

In your report of Mr. Phillips's lecture on the 
Question of To-morrow, he is made to say, concern- 
ing the Garrison or " Gentleman's " riot, " He saw 
the Mayor of the city, cap in hand, almost on his 
knees, entreating the men who were his social com- 
panions to have the kindness to obey the laws." 

I beg to say that the above statement is false. 
The Mayor of the city, with the slender police force 
of that time, rescued Mr. Garrison by main force, and 
saved his life. 

This statement I make for the information of the 
present generation. Those who knew the Mayor 
knew also that he was not a man to go on his knees 
to anybody, certainly not to mobs. 

It seems a little hard, when there are so many 
living men at whom Mr. PhillijDS can throw mud, that 
he should not confine his pastime to them. 
Very respectfully, 

THEODORE LYMAN. 



No. II. 

THE GARRISON MOB. 

To THE Editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser : — 

I see the present Mr. Theodore Lyman denies the 
correctness of my statement as to his father's con- 
duct at the Garrison mob. I said that Mayor Ly- 
man " besought, instead of commanding, that day, 
and was, metaphorically speaking, on his knees to 
the mob." His son disbelieves this, because such 
conduct would be very unlike his father. He was 
in his cradle that day. I was in Washington Street. 
I saw his father beg and sue ; I heard him beseech 
and entreat that mob to disperse and preserve order. 
He never once commanded or sought to control it. 
He never vindicated his office by even attempting 
to rally a force and maintain order. Had he issued 
one command, even one that was disobeyed, he 
would have done all that in him lay to redeem 
Boston, and I should have honored him. I saw him 
consent, if not assist, at tearing down the antislavery 
sign and throwing it to the mob, to propitiate its 
rage. The city was mine as well as his, and I hung 
my head, ashamed of it and him. 

He was lamentably wanting on that occasion in 
all that befits a magistrate. He broke his pledge, 
made a week before, to the Female Antislavery 
Society. The only order he issued that day was 
one ordering its members, legally met in their own 
hall, to disperse. lie never commanded the mob to 
disperse. 



The Mayor did well in giving Mr. Garrison the 
only refuge which Boston, under such a mayor, 
could furnish, — its jail. He would have done his 
duty had he vindicated, or died in the attempt to 
vindicate, Mr. Garrison's right to speak what and 
wdiere he pleased, and to sleep under his own roof 
in safety. 

Then his career would have stood an honor to 
that generation and an example to all coming ones. 
He had ample means to control that mob. Ten 
men shot and sent to deserved graves would have 
scattered the mob in ten minutes. I could name a 
dozen men who would have been equal to that 
emergency. Mr. Ha^^es, lately of the Boston po- 
lice, standing in Lyman's place, would have reversed 
the record of that hour. Mr. Garrison would have 
slept that night at home. Some of the gentlemen 
mobocrats w^ould have slept in graves, and some 
would have filled Mr. Garrison's cell in the Boston 
jail. 

Twenty years ago I said, " The time will come 
when sons will deem it unkind and unchristian to 
remind the world of acts their fathers take pride in." 
That hour has come. I refer to old shames, not to 
insult the dead, but to control the living. I have 
no ill-will toward Mayor Lyman. His services to 
the cause of education are an honor to his memory ; 
and, if report can be trusted, he bitterly repented 
his weakness on that shameful day. 

But evil-doers have one motive more to restrain 
them, if they can be made to feel that their children 
will blush for the names they inherit. I bring these 



8 



things up to show the world that reformers have 

terrible memories, and that, even if base acts win 

office and plaudits to-day, the ears of the actor's 

children will tingle at the report of them half a 

century hence. 

WENDELL PHILLIPS. 
November 3, 1869. 

No. III. 

[From the Boston Daily Advertiser of Monday, November 8, 18G9.] 
THE GARRISON MOB. 

To THE Editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser : — 

Mr. Wendell Phillips must take a flattering view 
of his past life when he assumes that any judicial 
mind will accept his statements as reliable. 

Although I was " in my cradle " when the Garri- 
son riot took place, and was therefore unable to raise 
my infant voice in beseeching the multitude, I have 
not written without various and abundant docu- 
mentary evidence of the truth of my assertions, — 
assertions further confirmed by letters since received 
from an eyewitness. 

I have also a minute account of the whole affair 
in the handwriting of the Mayor, whose word, I 
may be allowed to think, is not more prejudiced 
than, and certainly as generally reliable as, that of 
Mr. Phillips, who says he was present. 

I will not fill 3'our columns with a matter merely 
personal, by printing letters or other testimon}^ I 
will simply state that I am prepared to prove to the 
satisfaction of any reasonable person, — 



1. That the Mayor did not humble himself before 
the mol), but that, on the contrary, he told them, 
from the door of the Old State House, that the law 
should be maintained if it cost him his life. 

2. That he did not assist in, or consent to, the 
throwing of the Liberator sign to the mob. 

3. That, with his own hands, and not without per- 
sonal risk, he rescued Mr. Garrison from a furious 
crowd. 

4. That he did a very sensible thing in keeping 
Mr. Garrison in jail overnight ; and that Mr. Gar- 
rison himself, at that particular moment, was the 
person who most clearly appreciated this happy con- 
trivance. 

5. That the Mayor never "repented" his action, 
but always felt grateful to have been able to over- 
come so considerable a crisis without loss of life. 

In conclusion, allow me to say that I do not blush 
for my father ; but, in a spirit of Christian charity, 
I would gladly blush for Wendell Phillips, were he 
not past all such help. 

Very respectfully, 

THEODORE LYMAN. 



10 
No. IV. 

THE MOB OF 1835. 

To THE Editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser : — 

Mr. Theodore Lyman considers my testimony of 
no value. If it concerned only a private matter, I 
slionld ask no further hearing. But the mob of 
1835 is one of grave interest and importance. I 
will not, however, burden your columns with evi- 
dence ; but, choosing one of the statements he says 
he can prove, I will show your readers how utterly 
he is mistaken on that point, and leave them to 
draw their own inferences as to the other assertions 
he makes. The sacrifice of the sign "Antislavery 
Eooms" was a decisive act, showing, far better 
than words could, the attitude of the Mayor towards 
the mob. I said Mayor Lyman consented to it, if 
he did not assist in it. His son says he is prepared 
to jorove, — 

" 2. That he [Mayor Lyman] did not assist in, nor 
consent to, the throwino; of the Liberator sigrn to the 
mob." 

Let us see how the evidence stands. The mob 
took place October 21, 1835. The Boston Atlas of 
October 22, 1835, says : " Several gentlemen, at 
the suggestion of the Mayor, took down the sign 
bearing the words ^Antislavery Rooms,' and threw 
it into the street. It was dashed into a thousand 
sjDlinters in a moment." 

The New England Galaxy of that week says : 
" ' Down with the sign ! ' (Antislavery Eooms) was at 



11 



length shouted, and two or three gentlemen, at the 
request of the Mai/or, took it down and lowered it 
into the street, where it was speedily demolished." 

Mr. LiuMUs T). Marsh, No. 1210 Warren Avenue, 
Boston, writes me tliis morning : " I saw Mr. Harry 
Williams leave the Mayor's oltice (Old State House), 
and he went directly to the stairs which led up to 
the Antislavery Rooms, followed by a large number 
of people, who evidently knew, or seemed to know, 
tha progranune. (One of them carried a hammer.) 
Mr. Williams in a moment or two appeared at the 
window with his friend with the hammer. Mr. Wil- 
liams opened the window, and they both commenced 
to take down the siijjn. He handed the sign towards 
the sidewalk, where it was broken to pieces. Mr. 
Williams then said : ' Fellow-citizens, I have been 
directed b}' his Honor the Mayor to take down this 
obnoxious sign. And you are now requested to go 
to your homes.' " 

Mr. J. B. Palmer, No. 91 Devonshire Street, says 
in a letter to me, dated also this morning : " Mr. 
Williams appeared at the window of the Antislavery 
Rooms, and said that, by the order of the Mayor the 
sign would be removed, or words to the same pur- 
port. This I am positive of The sign was loosened, 
.... jumped on, broken in pieces, and carried oft' by 
the mob." 

Mr. N. B. Chamberlain, No. 310 Wa.shington Street, 
in a letter to me, just received, says: "I can 
assure you that I went with Harry Williams to the 
Old State House, and met Mayor Lyman on the 
steps, during the afternoon of the Garrison mob. 



12 



Mr. Williams asked permission to take down the 
antislavery sign. I protested against such submis- 
sion to the mob, repeating my protest as often as 
Mr. Williams urged the measure. Mr. Lyman ap- 
peared exceedingly agitated, and in fearful doubt 
what to do ; but at last reluctantly consented. Mr. 
Williams immediately left, I following to the stairs 
of the Antislavery Rooms. Mr. Williams went up 
with hammer in hand, appeared at the window, and 
commenced tearins; down the sisrn. It was soon 
accomplished, when he exultingly declared the work 
done by order of the Mayor." 

This afternoon I have been favored with the fol- 
lowing note from my friend Mr. Garrison : — 

" In case you make any rejoinder to Mr. Ljanan's 
reply to ^'^ou in the Advertiser of this morning, I 
desire you to state, in my behalf, that the assertion 
of Mr. L. in regard to my having been sent to jail 
by his father, at the time of the mob in 1835, — 
^ Mr. Garrison himself, at that particular moment, 
was the person who most clearly appreciated this 
hapjyy contrivance^ — is without any foundation. A 
happy contrivance, indeed, to shut up an innocent 
man in jail in order to save his life, and omit to 
arrest any of the rioters ^\\\o were seeking his life ! 
And this a faithful discharge of official duty by one 
sworn to execute the laws of the Commonwealth ! 
You are certainly right in your criticisms of Mayor 
Lyman's conduct." 

I leave the decision on this point to your readers. 
Yours respectfully, 

WENDELL PHILLIPS. 
November 8, 1869. 



13 



It is proper first to see what charges Mr. PhilHps 
brings forward. In his lecture he made only one, 
which I will call — 

A. That the Mayor meanly entreated rioters to 
obey the laws (see No. I.). 

In No. 11. it will be found that he has added as 
follows : — 

B. That the Mayor never sought to command the 
mob, nor did he issue any order. 

C. That he consented, if he did not assist, at tear- 
ing down the antislavery sign, and throwing it to 
the mob, to propitiate its rage. 

D. That he broke his pledge {lohat pledge ?) made 
to the Female Antislavery Society. 

E. That he ordered said Society to disperse. 

F. That he had ample means to control the mob, 
and should have shot ten men ; but did not control, 
and did not shoot. 

Before considering these charges, it will be well 
to introduce two or three accounts of this affair. 
The first of these (No. V.) is in the handwriting of 
Mayor Lyman, and was found among his papers. 
The second (No. VI.) is an article signed " Al)olition- 
ist," published in the Liberator, November, 1835. 
It was written by Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, in reply 
to a singularly scurrilous attack on the Mayor, in 
the same paper. Mr. Sewall is well known as one 
of the "Original Abolitionists," and his testimony is 
particularly important, because he was in the build- 
ing; durino; the riot and assisted Garrison in his 
escape. The third account (No. VII.) is that of Mr. 
Garrison himself A few passages, which do not af- 



14 



feet the present discussion, are omitted. The origi- 
nal will be found in Mrs. Stowe's " Men of our Times," 
page 172. 



No. V. 
ACCOUNT BY MAYOR LYMAN, 

IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING, FOUND AMONG HIS PAPERS. 

I think it was on the 18th of October that a 
notice appeared in the Transcript, a daily evening 
paper, that a meeting of the Female Abolition So- 
ciety would be held in the Society's room in Wash- 
ington Street on the 21st instant, at three o'clock in 
the afternoon, and that addresses might be expected 
from leading friends of the cause. In the course of 
the morning of the last-mentioned day an anony- 
mous handbill * was distributed, stating that Thomp- 
son would address this meeting, and calling on the 
citizens to " snake him out " and carry him to the 
tar-kettle. Neither the author of the handbill nor 

* THOMPSON, THE ABOLITIONIST. 

That infamous foreigner known as Thompson will hold forth this after- 
noon at the Liberator office, No. 48 AYashington Street. The present is 
a fair opportunity for the friends of the Union to snake Thompson out. 
It will be a contest between Thompson and the friends of the Union. 
A purse of 100 dollars has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens, 
to reward the individual who shall first lay violent hands on Thompson, 
so that he may be brought to the tar-kettle before dark. 

Friends of the Union, be vigilant. 

Boston, Wednesday, 12 o'clock. 



15 



the mode of its circulation was, at the time, known, 
or could be traced. 

In the forenoon of the 21st instant I sent one of 
the Deputy-Mars]ials'=--to the Liberator ofiice, a well- 
known Abohtion paper, in order to ascertain whether 
Thompson was in town or not. The ofHcer was 
assnred l)y Garrison, one of the editors of the paper, 
that Thompson was not, and that he wonld not be 
present at the meeting in the afternoon. On re- 
ceiving this information I thought that, as Thomp- 
son was the object of popular disfavor, no serious 
disturbance of the peace was to be feared at a meet- 
ing it was known he did not attend. I took, there- 
fore, no other precaution than to have a small num- 
ber of police-officers assembled for the afternoon. 
More especially I conceived there was no danger of 
a riot, as, but a short time before, the same Society, I 
believe, held a meeting, where quiet and order were 
maintained by a few constables, though a number 
of noisy, ill-disposed persons attempted to interrupt 
the proceedings. 

During the summer and autumn, the public mind 
being in a very heated, irritable state, the city had 
now and then been menaced with a riot. On seeins: 
meetings announced that I thought likely to lead to 
tumult and disorder, I had, on several occasions, 
expressed that opinion to the persons concerned, at 
the same time admitting their right to hold these 
meetings, and acknowledging that it was my duty 
and purpose to protect them in the exercise of their 
right. I expressed these sentiments to some gentle- 

* See No. XIV. 



16 



men of the Methodist connection, when it was pub- 
hcly announced that Avery ,^- who had been recently 
tried in Rhode Island for a murder of a very aggra- 
vating description, would preach on a week-day 
evening ; once, also, to some members of the 
Colonization Society, and twice, at least, to mem- 
bers of Abolition Societies. Some of the meetings 
proposed took place, others did not; and though 
there was once or twice a good deal of noise and 
crowdiufi-, nothing; like a riot occurred. 

In the afternoon of the 21st I went to the >Iayor 
and Aldermen's room a few minutes before three 
o'clock, and as I passed across Washington Street, 
seeing that a number of people had assembled in 
the neighborhood of the Abolition Eoom, I sent Mr. 
Pollard to the spot with several officers, with instruc- 
tions to send for me if he thought necessary. I was 
soon informed that the crowd was increasing very 
rapidly, and that the Society could not proceed in 
their business. In fact, on reaching the ground, I 
found the street literally full opposite the door lead- 
ing to the Society's room, which was on the third 
story. Of this door and passage-way I took posses- 
sion, by the aid of the officers already on the spot 
and of the few that came with me. I placed myself 
on the third or fourth step of the staircase, where I 
could see all in the street opposite the door, and 
some distance to the right and left. The crowd 
greatly increasing, and the excitement exceedingly 

* A clergyman tried for the mysterious murder of a young woman, 
but acquitted, both by the court and by his own sect. He died in Ohio 
during the past year. — Ed. 



17 

so, I stated to the people within the sound of my 
voice, that Thompson was not in town, supposing 
that this declaration might induce some to go away 
and render others more quiet, but it had no such 
effect. The mob becoming more boisterous and 
inflamed, I was well satisfied that we were menaced 
with a serious riot. The passage-way was, however, 
maintained by the officers, but by no means with- 
out the exercise of great strength as well as spirit. 
Having no doubt of what was approaching, I went 
up stairs with the intention of representing the 
state of things to the females assembled, and of ad- 
vising them to withdraw. I found twenty or thirty 
persons (perhaps one half lads) crowding about the 
door of the room. I was not aware till that time 
that these individuals were in the building, but I 
suppose that they entered before Mr. Pollard reached 
the spot. And in consequence of the dense throng 
now in front, it was very difficult to get them out. 
On entering the room, I found twenty-five or thirty 
women assembled there, mostly white, but some 
negroes and mulattoes. They were all seated except 
the chairman; but, on speaking to them, several rose 
and came towards me. One said in substance, that 
if it was necessary to die in that cause, they might 
as well die there and then. Not considering these 
women in any danger of their* lives or of personal 
injury, — at the worst, exposed only to insult and 
to be the spectators of a disgraceful riot, — I smiled 
and replied, '- At any rate they could not die there." 
Another said that they would withdraw, if I would 
secure them a passage. To effect this I went down 



18 



stairs to the street door, and after some difficulty a 
lane was opened in the crowd through which the 
women passed. There were some groans and some 
hissing by the mob, but more laughter. The 
women appeared to be very willing to leave the 
room. I heard no objection expressed beyond the 
remark, already mentioned, in regard to martyrdom. 

But the mob did not disperse. On the contrary, 
the}^ now began to cry vehemently, even furiously, 
for Garrison. At this time I did not know that he 
was in the building. It was now perhaps four 
o'clock,* and the afternoon was dark and cloudy. 
We had the prospect before us of a most stormy 
night. I had no police beyond what was necessary 
to keep the street door during daylight, and to 
guard the upper rooms of the building, nor any 
means of procuring an additional force till after 
dark, and in season to prevent immediate and great 
outrages and damage both to persons and property. 

Thompson not being in town. Garrison now ap- 
peared to be the object of popular vengeance. I 
ascertained, also, about this time, that there were 
two or three gentlemen in the building that were 
his friends, and that felt very solicitous for his safety, 
but they said that he could not get out on the roof 
or escape by the rear. A person, also, that I thought 
owned the building or proj)erty in it, was very 
anxious for Garrison's removal, for fear of injury to 
the premises by the mob. Up to this time I had 
left my position on the staircase but once. Seeing, 
however, more and more of the menacing, raging 

* The sun sets, at that season, a few minutes past five. — Ed. 



19 

state oF the mob, which, as far as I could judge from 
the place where I stood, increased continually in 
numbers, and being exceedingly anxious for Gar- 
rison, for whom a cry was often raised, I went up 
again to the upper part of the building, and in the 
Abolition Room I now saw Garrison, and about him 
his friends that I have mentioned. There were also 
in the same room several individuals that had ob- 
tained admittance before the passage-wa}^ was occu- 
pied by the constables. Whether the latter knew 
Garrison or not I cannot say. I spoke to him, how- 
ever, and as his friends had told me that there was 
no means of escape for him by the roof or the rear of 
the building, I asked him if he could not find a place 
in the garret where he could remain concealed. He 
said that he would see, and went up the attic stairs 
with alacrity. This is all that I said to Garrison 
during the afternoon. 

I returned to my position at the bottom of the 
staircase in the passage-way, which I did not again 
quit till the mob rushed up Washington Street. 

From the time that the females withdrew I ob- 
served that the sign of the Society now and then 
attracted the notice of this angry mob, their ill-tem- 
per displaying itself in the shape of shouts and yells. 
I suppose it was the only thing they could see that 
reminded them of the object of their vengeance. I 
thought, too, that as soon as it became dark, it might 
occur to these rioters, that, if they could get stones 
(and there were plenty there, as State Street had 
been recently macadamized) they would commence 
a pelting of this sign, and from the sign proceed to 



20 



the windows of the building, and then, perhaps, to 
the constables and others engaged in maintaining 
order. I therefore sent a person up the stairs to see 
if this sign could be taken into the room from the 
window. Instead of that being done, the man was 
interfered with by some of the lads and men, already 
mentioned as being in the building, the sign-board 
torn off the hooks and thrown down into the street."* 
In the mean time Garrison had escaped. By the 
aid of his friends he got out of the back window of 
a bookseller's shop upon a shed in the rear of the 
building, and thence fled to Wilson's Lane. I was in- 
formed of this fact as soon as the escape was effected, 
though I did not witness the transaction. I thought 
the danger of a boisterous night was now much di- 
minished; Garrison, I supposed, w^as safe, and I had 
little doubt but that sufficient men could be assem- 
bled in season to prevent, at any rate to check and 
stop, serious mischief 

* I think that Garrison in one of his papers in the Liberator says that 
I " ordered " the ladies to retire from the Abolition room. " An Ab- 
olitionist " says, " he urged the ladies to retire." " An Abolitionist " is 
Mr. Samuel E. Sewall. He was in the building the whole time, but 
neither he nor Garrison were in the Abolition room at the time I went 
in ; but Mr. Sewall was as likely to have correct information from the 
ladies themselves as Garrison. He was doubtless as much in their friend- 
ship and confidence. He states the fact correctly. 

Garrison, I think, also says, or intimates, that I directed the sign of the 
Society to be thrown into the street. 

" An Abolitionist " says, the Mayor, " in sanctioning the removal of the 
Society's sign." This is far from saying that I ordered it to be thrown 
into the street. Mr. Sewall was very active the whole afternoon in efforts 
for Garrison's security, and finally did a great deal towards aiding him to 
escape. He probably saw what was done about the sign. Garrison 
could not, for he was concealed. He must have heard from others, or 
imasined it. 



21 



Perhaps ten minutes after I was told that Gar- 
rison had escaped a person informed me that the 
mob had caught him. I said, " No, he has been gone 
eight or ten minutes." The gentleman repeated his 
remark, and said that he was in the upper story of 
the buildino; lookino; out of a back window, and 
from the movement of the crowd he was satisfied 
they had found him. I thought this very improb- 
able, not knowing that Wilson's Lane was beset. 
While speaking, however, to Mr. Pollard, I observed 
the whole crowd in front of the building turn and run 
up Washington Street. I no longer had any doubt 
but that Garrison, or some one, was found. I left 
the passage-way instantly, told the officers to follow, 
and ran with the mob. When I reached the street 
on the north side of the City Hall, I looked down 
and saw a vast throng passing to the south along 
the head of State Street. I continued on past the 
Post-Office. 

On my way from the Liberator office to the City 
Hall, — a short distance, say one hundred and fifty 
yards, — several persons said to me, " They are going 
to hang him ; for God's sake, save him ! " — at least, ten 
or fifteen said this. I turned down the street south 
of the City Hall, and there I saw Garrison, without 
his hat, in the midst of what seemed a j^rodigious 
concourse of people. I rushed to his rescue. I met 
him a little to the east of the south door of the 
Hall. He was in the hands of two men, one hold- 
ing him with great strength on each side. As soon 
as I reached Garrison, he looked up (before, his head 
was bent to the earth) and smiled. I said to the 



22 



men who held him, " Take him into my office." I 
placed myself before him and backed, as well as I 
could, towards the steps of the Hall. After a short 
struggle, and in the midst of a vast deal of noise 
and clamor, we reached the steps. Going up the 
steps, I sank partly down on a man that had fallen. 
Garrison was forced into the City Hall, and the doors 
were shut. This was only effected by the use of 
great physical strength. The mob made no attempt 
to come in at the south door, but great numbers ran 
round and entered at the north so as to fill the 
lower hall. Garrison was, however, carried up stairs. 
I took mv station at the foot of the staircase leadins; 
to the Mayor and Aldermen's room. The crowd 
was extreme for a minute. I spoke to the people 
and said in substance, that the law must be main- 
tained, the order of the city preserved, and that I 
would lay down my life on that spot to effect these 
objects. These remarks were well received. The 
crowd continued intense in the street on the south 
side of the Hall. I therefore went to the window 
over the south door, and got out on the ledge or cap 
over that door, where I was able to stand, though 
the position was anything but safe. I here again 
spoke to the people very much as in the Hall. 
These remarks were also well received. The mob 
now appeared to be waiting for a movement on the 
part of the city authorities. It was nearly dusk, and 
the moment was critical ; for if Garrison was kept in 
the City Hall till night, no one could doubt but that 
there would be a great tumult. The mob had, in 
the first place, been roused to fresh vigor by having 



23 



found Garrison, and then greatly inflamed by having 
had him taken out of their grasp. After careful 
deliberation no suitable place could be thought of 
but the jail. Sheriff Parkman, who was present, 
said that he would commit him as a rioter. The 
usual law paper was made out, and Garrison agreed 
to go to jail on the condition (as I was informed by 
Parkman) that he should not be subject to any ex- 
pense. A carriage was procured, and, after a prodi- 
gious deal of resistance on the part of the mob, he 
was placed in it ; and, after a second severe strug- 
gle, the carriage was driven off. The hackman 
luckily had good horses, and had good courage 
himself, for in the course of a hundred yards or so 
he got his horses into a gallop, and then, instead of 
going towards the jail, he drove towards Cam- 
bridge bridge. The mob (or a part of it) followed 
the carriage, but the manoeuvre of the hackman dis- 
tracted them, and a large portion stopped in Bow- 
doin Square. 

Running the greater part of the way, I reached 
the jail before the carriage, which, however, soon 
came up, but not before between two and three 
hundred persons had assembled there. But a line 
was made to the jail by officers, and, on the door 
being opened. Garrison seemed to bound from the 
carriage to the jail door with a single leap. Mob 
about the jail then dispersed. 

I went to my office and took all the precautions 
in my power for the quiet of the town during the 
night, having all the watch on the alert, and having 
officers placed in the neighborhood of Garrison's 



24 



house and the Liberator office. The night passed 
off without disturbance, though there was a very 
large collection of people on Washington Street till 
towards ten o'clock. 

Throughout the whole of this riot Garrison ac- 
ceded cheerfully and readily to the measures pro- 
posed for his security and protection. 

The property destroyed on this occasion, so far as 
I have been informed, was a panel of a door broken 
in, a wooden partition somewhat injured, and the 
sign of the Society broken wp. The whole to the 
amount, perhaps, of fifteen or twenty dollars. 

Garrison himself received no personal injury. 
His trousers were torn, and I believe he lost his hat. 

Mr. Pollard, the city marshal, remained the whole 
time by the door of the building while the mob 
were in Washington Street ; Sheriif Parkman in the 
upper rooms. Being in the office when I was sent 
for early in the afternoon, he volunteered to go and 
aid in keeping the peace. He contributed much to 
that object by the courage he displayed, as Avell as 
good-nature, which never left him, though he was 
once or twice roughly handled. It was intended 
that Sheriff Parkman should go to the jail in the 
carriage with Garrison, but he could not be got in. 



25 



No. VI. 

Article, by Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, signed " Ax Abolition- 
ist," PUBLISHED IN THE LiBEBATOK IN NOVEMBER, 1835. 

CONDUCT OF THE MAYOK. 

Mr. Garrison : — 

I read with deep feelings of pain and regret an 
article in the last Liberator, signed " Hancock," in 
which the writer charges Mr. Lyman, the Mayor of 
Boston, with being a co-operator with the mob in 
this city of the 21st ult., and makes a show of 
labored argument to substantiate his accusation. 

I am neither the eulogist nor the apologist of 
Mr. Lj^man. But I believe that he was as sincerely 
desirous of suppressing the riot as any man in the 
city, and adopted such measures as seemed to him 
calculated to eflect the object. 

If he committed any errors on the occasion, it is 
just that they should be pointed out, but with the 
kindness and courtesy which are due to every man 
who means to do his duty. To those who are dis- 
posed to judge harshly of his conduct in a new and 
difficult emergenc}^, I would say, Have you ever at- 
tempted to put down a mob 3'ourselves ? 

The writer of the piece referred to argues, in the 
first place, that the Mayor was accessory to the mob, 
from his previous conduct. 

He says that the Mayor exerted all his private 
personal influence for some time previous to Homer 

and Palmer's call for the mob, to dissuade Abolition- 

4 



26 



ists from holding public meetings. Is it fair from 
this to conclude that the Mayor wished for mobs ? 
His desire obviously was the very reverse, that is, 
to persuade the Abolitionists to forego their meet- 
ings, and thus afford no excuse, for mobs. The writer 
ought to have added in this connection, if he was 
aware of the fact, that Mr. Lj-man always said, if the 
Abolitionists chose to have meetings, in spite of 
the excited state of public feeling, he would defend 
the right of free discussion at the peril of his life. 

Mr. Lyman's next offence is, that he was chairman 
of the proslavery Faneuil Hall meeting.'^' I regret 
that he should have aided on that disgraceful occa- 
sion ; but I am not aware that he or any other per- 
son who addressed that assembly was in favor of 
mobs. Now, although the tendency of such a meet- 
ing, when the public mind was in a state of effer- 
vescence, was probably to encourage lawless violence 
against Abolitionists, yet it seems to me most un- 
charitable to charge men like Mr. Lyman, whom we 
know to have been always opposed to such violence, 
with a design to promote it, without some more 
direct evidence to substantiate the charge. 

In regard to the gallows erected before Mr. Gar- 
rison's door, it w^ould, it seems to me, have been 
proper for the city government to have made efforts 
to detect the offenders who placed it there. But I 
cannot say that the city authorities were in favor 

* " A meeting not called for the purpose of exciting a moh against the 
Abolitionists, — but for the expressed purpose of discountenancing them 

, — a meeting the call for ■which was signed by some of the most 

upright and pious men in this city." 

"Another Abolitionist," in the Liberator, November, 1835. 



27 

of mobs because they might think the course I ap- 
proved unnecessary or inexpedient. Tlie gallows, it 
should be recollected, was very promptly removed 
by the cit}^ ofiicers. 

Hancock next contends that the conduct of the 
Maj'Or, between the direct call for the mob and its 
assembling, shows him to have been accessory to it. 
Hancock contends that when the Mayor knew of 
the call for violence, he was bound to say that the 
ladies should have their meeting, and if appearances 
demanded, he was bound by the laws of the city to 
have called out the military, and to have lined the 
streets with bayonets and cannon. Here, it seems to 
me, Hancock is altogether wrong. I do not know 
whether there is any law of the city which author- 
izes the Mayor to assemble a military force, because 
a mob is anticipated. But supposing there is such a 
law, the occasion did not seem to require a military 
force to be assembled in anticipation of the meeting. 
The Mayor, I believe, had made such arrangements 
as he thought would be sufficient to quell the mob, 
if any should arise. Was he bound to do more ? 
He was promptly on the spot, soon after the com- 
mencement of the tumult, with the City Marshal and 
constables, — a force which he probably supposed 
was sufficient for the emergency. 

The conduct of the Mayor during the mob is 
charged as proof of his being accessory to it. But 
does Hancock give us any detailed account of the 
Mayor's conduct at this time, in support of the 
charge? no. He offers a long imaginary (!!!) 
dialogue, which he says he thinks is a just inference 



28 



from the Mayor's conduct during this period. A 
more unfair course than that adopted by your cor- 
respondent could scarcely have been conceived of 

The Mayor is held up to ridicule and contempt by 
words put into his mouth which he confessedly never 
uttered. Suppose a man on trial for an}^ offence, 
and a witness should undertake to tell what he 
thinks, judging from the prisoner's conduct, he might 
have said. Would such a witness be listened to for 
a moment ? Yet this is the mode in which Hancock 
proposes to try the Mayor. 

Perhaps I might conclude without any further 
answer to this branch of the accusation. But let us 
examine the real course of the Mayor's conduct, and 
see if it affords any proof of his co-operating with 
the mob. 

He urged the ladies to retire. 

Whether this was the most judicious course or 
not I shall not stop to inquire. I believe many 
Abolitionists think it was riarht for the ladies to 
quit the room. It certainly affords us no reason 
for doubting the Mayor's good faith, that he rec- 
ommended this course. 

The Mayor, with his officers, certainly cleared the 
building of the rioters, and defended its entrance 
afterwards, for a long time, against repeated and 
violent assaults. 

He thus protected Mr. Garrison's life, and the 
property of the Society, and so far, it seems to me, 
he deserves commendation. 

I will not, for a moment, justify the Mayor in 
sanctioning the removal of the Society's sign. But I 



29 



have no doubt he acted honestly, in the hope that 
this course might pacify the mob, and tend to pre- 
vent further outrage. For such an error of judg- 
ment, it seems to me most uncharitable to charge 
him with beintr leayrued with the mob. 

The Mayor has been very much blamed for not 
taking the course for suppressing the riot which is 
directed by a recent statute.'^'- I know not what his 
motive was for this neglect of duty. I certainly 
shall not attempt to justify it. Yet, taking the whole 
of his conduct on the occasion into view, and know- 
ing that he was, in fact, using exertion to oppose 
and disperse the mob, it seems to be absurd to con- 
tend that he could feel any sympathy with a lawless 
rabble, who were endeavoring to prostrate his au- 
thority. 

In the imaginary dialogue, Hancock most unfairly 
represents the Mayor as having betrayed Mr. Garri- 
son's escape from the building, and thus induced the 
crowd to pursue him. The charge is wholly ground- 
less. 

When Sheriff Parkman stated to the multitude 
that he could not find Mr. Garrison in the building, 
it was supposed by those who saw Mr. Garrison 
escape out of the window that he was already safe 
from pursuit. The communication was made for 
the purpose of dispersing the crowd. No inti- 
mation, I am confident, was given by the Mayor 
or Sheriff Parkman that Mr. Garrison had escaped 
from the building. The conduct of the Mayor after 
Mr. Garrison was brought to his office seems to 

* See page 62. — Ed. 



30 



have been dictated by an anxious desire to promote 
his safety. His measures at this time seem to have 
been in the main prompt and judicious. I should 
have preferred that Mr. Garrison should have been 
sent out of town rather than to the jail. But the 
great object of saving Mr. Garrison was success- 
fully accomplished. The Mayor is charged by Han- 
cock with false imprisonment of Mr. Garrison. But 
I believe Mr. Garrison went voluntarily to the 
jail. 

The conduct of the Mayor since the mob is next 
arraierned. He is blamed for not exerting; himself 
to bring the rioters to justice. If he is blame- 
worthy in this, it is a blame which he shares with 
many other citizens, including some Abolitionists. 
For it is competent for any citizen to prosecute 
these offenders. 

However, I admit that the city government is to 
blame for not havinsc made suitable efforts to detect 
the rioters and the publishers of the handbills. But 
I cannot infer from this that they were friendly to 
the mob, but merely that in their opinion it is not 
advisable for the city government to act on the sub- 
ject. Dislike to abolition principles has probably 
had an influence in leadino; to this conclusion. Yet 
however much I disapprove of the silence in which 
our city authorities have passed over an enormous 
and high-handed violation of the laws, I cannot 
conclude from thence that they either encouraged 
or approved of the riot. 

I must conclude. We should be just even to our 
opponents. We should endeavor to judge charita- 



31 



bly of their conduct, and not ascribe it to the worst 
possible motives. In looking at the course which 
they have pursued, we should be ever on the watch 
not to be carried into false judgment by party feel- 
mgs. While truth compels us to extenuate nothing 
either in friend or foe, we should be equally careful 
to " set down naught in malice." 

AN ABOLITIONIST. 

Boston, Saturday, November 21, 1835. 

No. VII. 
ACCOUNT BY MR. WILLIAM L. GARRISON, 

TO BE FOUXD IN MRS. STOWE's " MEN OF OUR TIMES." 

As the meeting was to commence at three o'clock, 
p. M., I went to the hall about twenty minutes before 
that time. Perhaps a hundred individuals had al- 
ready gathered around the street door and opposite 
to the building, and their number was rapidly aug- 
menting. On ascending into the hall, I found about 
fifteen or twenty ladies assembled, sitting with se- 
rene countenances, and a crowd of noisy mtruders 
(mostly young men) gazing upon them, through 
whom I urged my way with consideralile difficulty. 
" That 's Garrison," was the exclamation of some of 
their number, as I quietly took my seat. Perceiv- 
ing that they had no intention of retiring, I went 
to them and calmly said, *• Gentlemen, perhaps you 
are not aware that this is a meeting of the Boston 
Female Antislavery Societ}', called and intended 
exclusively for ladles, and those only who have 
been invited to address them. Understanding: this 



32 



fact, you will not be so rude or indecorous as to 
thrust your presence upon this meeting. If, gen- 
tlemen,'' I pleasantly continued, " any of you are 
ladies in disguise, — why, only apprise me of the 
fact, give me your names, and I will introduce yoM 
to the rest of your sex, and 3^ou can take seats 
among them accordingly." I then sat down, and 
for a few moments their conduct was more orderly. 
However, the stairway and upper door of the hall 
were soon densely filled with a brazen-faced crew, 
whose behavior grew more and more indecent and 
outrageous. Perceiving that it would be impracti- 
cable for me, or any other person, to address the 
ladies ; and believing, as I was the only male Aboli- 
tionist in the hall, that my presence would serve as 
a pretext for the mob to annoy the meeting, I held 
a short colloquy with the excellent President of the 
Society, telling her that I would withdraw unless 
she particularly desired me to stay. It was her ear- 
nest wish that I would retire, as well for my own 
safety as for the peace of the meeting. She assured 
me that the Society would resolutely but calmly 
proceed to the transaction of its business, and leave 
the issue with God. I left the hall accordingly, and 
would have left the building if the staircase had 
not been crowded to excess. This being impractica- 
ble, I retired into the Antislavery office (which is 
separated from the hall by a board partition), accom- 
panied by my friend, Mr. Charles C. Burleigh. It 
was deemed prudent to lock the door, to prevent 
the mob from rushing in and destroying our publi- 
cations. 



33 



In the mean time the crowd in the street had aug- 
mented from a hundred to thousands. The cry was 
for ''Thompson! Thompson!" But the Mayor had 
now arrived, and, addressing the rioters, he assured 
them that Mr. Thompson was not in the city, and 
besought them to disperse. As well might he have 
attempted to 2^1'opitiate a troop of ravenous wolves. 
None Avent away, but the tumult continued momen- 
tarily to increase. It was apparent, therefore, that 
the hostility of the throng was not concentrated upon 
Mr. Thompson, but that it was as deadly against the 
Society and the Antislavery cause. The fact is wor- 
thy of special note, for it incontestibly proves that 
the object of these " respectable and influential " 
rioters was to put down the cause of Emancipation, 
and that the prejudice against Mr. Thompson was 
only a mere pretext. 

Notwithstanding the presence and frantic behavior 
of rioters in the hall, the meeting of the Society 
was regularly called to order by the President. She 
read a select and appropriate portion of Scripture, 
and offered a fervent jDrayer to God for direction 
and succor, and the forgiveness of enemies and 
rioters. It was an awful, sublime, and soul-thrilling 

scene The clear, untremulous tone of that 

Christian heroine in prayer occasionally awed the 
ruffians into silence, and was heard distinctly even 
in the midst of their hisses, yells, and curses, — for 
they could not long silently endure the agony of 
conviction, and their conduct became furious. They 
now attempted to break down the partition, and par- 
tially succeeded ; but that little band of women still 
5 



34 



maintained their ground unshrinkingly, and endeav- 
ored to transact their business. 

An assault was now made upon the door of the 
office, the lower panel of which was instantly dashed 
to pieces. Stooping down, and glaring upon me as 
I sat at the desk, writing an account of the riot 
to a distant friend, the ruffians cried out, — " There 
he is ! That 's Garrison ! Out with the scoundrel ! " 
&c., &c. Turning to Mr. Burleigh, I said, " You may 
as well open the door, and let them come in and do 
their worst." But he, with great presence of mind, 
w^ent out, locked the door, put the key into his 
pocket, and by his admirable firmness succeeded in 
keeping the office safe. 

Two or three constables havins: cleared the hall 
and staircase of the mob, the Mayor came in and 
ordered the ladies to desist, assuring them that he 
could not any longer guarantee protection, if they 
did not take immediate advantage of the oppor- 
tunity to retire from the building. Accordingly they 
adjourned, to meet at the house of one of their num- 
ber, for the completion of their business ; but as they 
passed through the crowd they were greeted with 
" taunts, hisses, and cheers of mobocratic triumph, 
from gentlemen of property and standing from all 
parts the city." Even their absence did not dimin- 
ish the throng. Thompson was not there, the ladies 
were not there ; but " Garrison is there ! " was the 
cry. "Garrison! Garrison! We must have Garrison! 
Out with him! Lynch him !" These and numberless 
other exclamations arose from the multitude. 

For a moment their attention was diverted from 



35 



mc to the Antislavery sign, niul they vociferously 
demanded its possession. It is pninful to state, that 
the flavor promptly complied Avith their demand ! 
So agitated and alarmed had he become, that in very 
weakness of spirit he ordered the sign to be hurled 
to the ground, and it was instantly broken in a thou- 
sand fragments by the infuriated populace. The 
sign being demolished, the cry for Garrison was re- 
sumed more loudly than ever. It was now apparent 
that the multitude would not disperse till I left the 
building, and as an egress out of the front door was 
impossible, the Mayor and some of his assistants, as 
well as some of my friends, earnestly besought me 
to escape in the rear of the building. 

Preceded by my fiiithful and beloved friend, J. R. 
C, I dropped from a back window on to a shed, 
and narrowly escaped falling headlong to the ground. 
We entered into a carpenter's shop, through which 
we attempted to get into Wilson's Lane, but found 
our retreat cut off by the mob. They raised a shout 
as soon as we came in sight ; but the proprietor 
promptly closed the door of his shop, kept them at 
ba}^ for a time, and thus kindly afforded me an 
opportunity to find some other passage. I told Mr. 
C. it would be futile to attempt to escape, — I would 
go out to the mob, and let them deal with me as 
they might elect ; but he thought it was my duty to 
avoid them as long as possible. We then went up 
stairs, and, finding a vacancy in one corner of the 
room, I got into it, and he and a young lad piled 
up some boards in front of me to shield me from 
observation. In a few minutes several ruffians broke 



36 



into the chamber, who seized Mr. C. in a rough man- 
ner, and led him out to the view of the mob, saying, 
" This is not Garrison, but Garrison's and Thompson's 
friend, and he sa^^s he knows where Garrison is, but 
won't tell." Then a shout of exultation was raised 
by the mob, and what became of him I do not know; 
though, as I was immediately discovered, I presume 
he escaped without material injury. On seeing me, 
three or four of the rioters, uttering a yell, furiously 
dragged me to the window, with the intention of 
hurling me from that height to the ground ; but one 
of them relented, and said, " Don't let us kill him 
outright." So they drew me back, and coiled a rope 
about my body, — probably to drag me through the 
streets. I bowed to the mob, and, requesting them 
to wait patiently until I could descend, went down 
upon a ladder that was raised for that purpose. I 
fortunately extricated myself from the ro^De, and 
was seized by two or three of the leading rioters, 
powerful and athletic men, by whom I was dragged 
along bareheaded (for my hat had been knocked off 
and cut in pieces on the spot), a friendly voice in 
the crowd shouting, " He sha'n't be hurt ! He is an 
American ! " This seemed to excite sympathy in 
the breasts of some others, and they reiterated the 
same' cry. Blows, however, were aimed at my 
head by such as were of a cruel spirit, and at last 
they succeeded in tearing nearly all my clothes 
from my body. Thus was I dragged through Wil- 
son's Lane into State Street, in the rear of the City 
Hall. 

They proceeded with me in the direction of the 



37 



City Hall, the cry being raised, " To the Common ! " 
■whether to give me a coat of tar and feathers or to 
throw me into the pond was problematical. As we 
approached the south door, the Mayor attempted to 
protect me by his presence ; but as he was unassist- 
ed by any show of authority or force, he was quickly 
thrust aside ; and now came a tremendous rush on 
the part of the mob to prevent my entering the 
hall. For a time the conflict was desperate ; but at 
length a rescue was effected by a posse that came to 
the help of the Mayor, by whom I was carried up 
to the Mayor's room. 

In view of my denuded condition, one individual 
in the Post-Office below stairs kindly lent me a pair 
of pantaloons, another a coat, a third a stock, a 
fourth a cap, &c. After a brief consultation, the 
mob densely surrounding and threatening the City 
Hall and Post-Oflice, the Mayor and his advisers 
said that my life depended on committing me to 
jail, ostensibly as a disturber of the peace. Accord- 
ingly a hack was got ready at the door, and I was 
put into it, supported by Sheriff Parkman and 
Ebenezer Bailey, the Mayor leading the way. And 
now ensued a scene which baffles all description. 
As the ocean, lashed to fury by a storm, seeks to 
whelm a bark beneath the waves, so did the mob, 
enraged at their disappointment, rush like a whirl- 
wind upon the frail vehicle in which I sat, and 
endeavored to drag me out of it. Escape seemed 
a physical impossibility. They clung to the wheels, 
dashed open the doors, seized hold of the horses, 
and tried to upset the carriage. They were, how- 



38 



ever, vigorously repulsed by the police, a constable 
sprang in by my side, the doors were closed, and 
the driver, using his whip on the bodies of the 
horses and the heads of the rioters, happily made 
an opening through the crowd, and drove with all 
speed to Leverett Street. 

In a few moments I was locked up in a cell, safe 
from my persecutors, accompanied b}^ two delightful 
associates, — a good conscience and a cheerful mind. 



Now to consider the original charge, — 

A. That the Mayor tneanly entreated the rioters 
to obey the laws. 

Mr. Phillips is extremely vague in his accusation. 
He says (No. II.) he was himself in Washington 
Street, but does not mention the time, nor does he 
say where the Mayor was when these degrading 
pleadings were uttered. Such obscurity is charac- 
teristic of bad testimony the world over. 

From the accounts already introduced, it is plain 
that the Mayor was either in the entry of the Anti- 
slavery building or on the steps of the Old State 
House, and in either case a person in AVashington 
Street mig-ht have seen and heard him. He was for 
a long time in the entry of the Antislavery build- 
ing, but, in his own account, there is no mention of 
an address to the crowd, beyond the statement that 
"Thompson was not in town" (page 17). The fol- 
lowing letter contains an important allusion to this 
point. 



39 



No. VIII. 

LETTER FROM iMR. HENRY GUILD* TO THE EDITOR. 

Having read the controversy in the papers be- 
tween yourself and Mr. PhilKps, and having l)cen an 
eyewitness to the circumstances referred to, and a 
convert to the Antislavery cause from that date, I 
believe I can bear witness to your father's efforts to 
subdue the mob and rescue Mr. Garrison. 

My impression is that the Riot Act was read under 
the windows of the Antislavery rooms; at any rate, 
I recollect distinctly your father warning the mob to 
disperse ; this was before the seizure of Mr. Garri- 
son, who was taken from V»^ilson's Lane, with a rope 
around his body (not around his neck, as has been 
often stated), and carried up State Street, on the 
north side, and down on the south side of the Old 
State House ; and it was on the way down, and near 
the old pump that the police force, not more than 
ten or fifteen men, made a raid upon the mob and 
took him from them. 

I could not say what part your father took in the 
arrest of Mr. Garrison from the mob, but I was 
informed, shortly after, that Mr. Garrison, in relating 
his experience in a public meeting, stated that he 
never was so glad to get into a jail in his life. I 
think your father did all that lay in his power, with 
a mere handful of men at his command ; and 
although, as I said before, I am, and have been, an 
Antislavery man, I am also a lover of justice. 

* Manufacturing Jeweller, Winter Street. 



40 



These few recollections have been scratched down 
hastily. I could give you a more extended and 
particular account if you should think it worth 
while to call upon me. 

Boston, November 13, 1869. 

Mr. Guild was then a clerk of Mr. Quincy Tufts, in 
a neighboring store, and he ran out to see what was 
going on. He says, " I recollect distinctly 3'Our father 
warning the moh to diS2:)erse ; this was hefore the 
seizure of Mr. Garrison," therefore it was while the 
Mayor was in or near the entry of the building, and 
it was (perhaps) while Mr. Phillips was hanging his 
head with shame ; which act seems to be the only 
support he gave to the law and the authorities 
on that important occasion. Such men as Colonel 
Sever ran in and took rioters by the collar ; but Mr. 
Phillips hung his head. 

But perhaps the entreating " almost on his knees " 
took place later, at the Old State House. The 
Mayor writes, " I said in substance that the law must 
be maintained, the order of the city preserved, and 
that I would lay down my life on that spot to effect 
these objects" (page 22). The following letters 
bear directly on this point, 



41 



No. IX. 

LETTER FROM MR. JOHN H. THORNDIKE* TO THE 
EDITOR. 

In this morning's Advertiser is a letter over the 
signature of Mr. Wendell Phillips, which contains 
such gross misstatements as to what occurred at the 
time of the " Garrison Mob," that I am impelled to 
write you what I know upon the subject. I would 
not say that Mr. Phillips intentionally says that 
which is not true, for it is fair to suppose that one of 
his excitable temperament, and taking the part which 
he did in the antislavery movement at that time, 
neither " saw " nor " heard " correctly. Upon the 
afternoon of that day, as I was walking down Wash- 
ington Street, on the way to my office in State Street, 
I saw, when near Joy's Building, a large crowd of 
people, and curiosity led me on to the corner of 
Court Street. I asked a laborer there what the mat- 
ter was ; he answered that there were two or three 
men up there preaching to a lot of women about 
slavery. I went a little farther, and found myself 
next to Mr. John L. Dimmock, who appeared to be 
doing what he could to allay the excitement which 
was momentarily increasing. Men had crowded up 
the stairs of the building where the meeting was 
held, and there was much loud talk by some of them 
in the mob. Cries were distinctly heard, " Tear down 
the sign ! " Mr. Dimmock said to two men whom he 



o 



* Lately President of the Water Board. 
6 



42 



spoke to as if he knew them, " You had better take 
in that sign," and very soon one or both of them 
were at work doing it. When this was done I set 
out again for my ofhce, and just as I reached the 
last corner of the Old State House there was a rush 
of some dozen men close together from Wilson's 
Lane, and in their midst a bareheaded man with a 
rope round his neck. Instantly others surrounded 
them, most of whom appeared to be well-disposed 
citizens, crying out, " Don't hurt him," and directed 
the bareheaded man (who I afterwards learned was 
Mr, Garrison) to the south door of the Old State 
House. Your father. Mayor Lyman, met them at 
the door with only one or two on either side of him, 
and under his direction Mr. Garrison was passed up 
stairs. When the most excited of those present 
tried to follow, he pressed them back, declaring in a 
clear and loud voice, " You can go no farther, and 
any man who passes here will have to pass over my 
dead body." Upon this, satisfaction was manifested 
by cheers and clapping of hands. He came in a 
moment after to the window over the entrance and 
again spoke to those remaining, asking them as good 
citizens to disperse, which they did. From that 
time I have had the highest respect for your father, 
standing there as he did, almost alone, fearing no 
one and caring for no one, bearing on his counte- 
nance and in the energy of his manner a determina- 
tion to protect the man and maintain the peace. 

Boston, November 6, 1869. 



43 



No. X. 

LETTER FROM MR. OTIS CLAPP* TO THE EDITOR. 

The reading of your letter this morning on the 
" Garrison Mob " revived my recollections of the 
scene. 

I happened to be standing on the south corner of 
State and Washington Streets when the mob came 
up Washington Street, with General Lyman and his 
officers surrounding Mr. Garrison, who turned him 
into State Street, and up the steps into the Old State 
House (then the City Hall), when the door was 
closed and guarded. This action produced great 
excitement among the mob, which increased in fury 
each moment, and threatened to break down the 
door. Soon after, General Lyman stepped through 
the window on the roof over the door through 
which they had entered City Hall, and addressed 
the multitude. 

He asked all to aid in keeping the peace, and 
advised all to quietly retire. The laws, he said, so 
far as rested upon him, Tnust and should be obeyed, 
if he died in the attempt ; or words to this effect. 

His figure, as he then appeared, when he straight- 
ened himself up and spoke, is impressed upon my 
mind as though it was within a year, and the fire 
with which he declared his determination rings in 
my ears to this day. The effect upon the multitude 
was electric, and all was hushed for some moments ; 

* United States Assessor. 



44 



■when parties began to gather m quiet groups, and 
talk over the matter. 

I watched this transaction with intense interest, 
as it was my first lesson in the management of 
mobs ; and I have always felt that General Lyman's 
action in this matter was in the highest degree 
manly and courageous. 

As there are not many living witnesses of this 
scene, I presume, it has seemed to me well to say 
thus much upon the subject. 

Boston, November 3, 1859. 

No. XL 

LETTER FROM COL. JAMES W. SEVER TO THE EDITOR. 

I take great pleasure in stating to you in writing, 
at your request, the substance of a verbal commu- 
nication made to you a few days since in reference 
to the " Garrison Riot," so called, which occurred in 
this city on the 21st day of October, 1835. 

Passing down State Street on the afternoon of that 
day, I encountered a large mass of people coming 
round the eastern end of the Old State House from 
the direction of Wilson's Lane, having in custody 
William L. Garrison, in his shirt-sleeves, and without 
a hat, having a rope around his waist. 

As they turned towards Washington Street they 
were met by the Mayor and a force of constables. 
At this moment the cry was raised, " To the Frog 
Pond with him ! " followed by an appeal to the by- 
standers to assist the Mayor, when, among many 



45 



others, the late Colonel Thomas C. Amory and my- 
self aided in the rescue of Mr. Garrison from the 
crowd, and in placing him within the south door of 
the Old State House, which was at once closed. 

Immediately afterwards the Mayor appeared at 
an open w'indow over the door, from which he ear- 
nestly addressed the excited populace, advising and 
commanding them to disperse and go peaceably to 
their homes, — avowing his determination to main- 
tain the peace of the city at all hazards, and notify- 
ing them in the most emphatic terms that, if any 
attempt should be made to force an entry to the 
building, it should be done only over his body. 

At the close of his address he was heartily and 
very generally cheered. 

An intimation having been given by some of 
the constables to those who had aided the authori- 
ties that a carriage had been ordered to the noi'th 
door, and that assistance might be -required there, 
we immediately repaired to that point, where we 
found the constables in the act of putting Mr. Gar- 
rison in a carriage, and the crowd rapidly increas- 
ing, and endeavoring to prevent it, some trying to 
overturn the carriage, large numbers hanging on to 
the wheels and calling out to ^^Cut the traces! cut the 
reins ! " An individual drew his knife and made an 
attempt to do this, when he was seized by myself 
and thrust aside. The driver effectually applied 
his whip, and with difficulty succeeded in breaking 
away, when he drove rapidly up Court Street to 
the jail, followed by the mob. 

I have delayed this communication in the hope of 



46 



finding tlie letter which I addressed to my father, in 
which, on the evening of this day, I gave a minute 
account of the events and occurrences of the day, 
" quorum 'parvsa pars fui " ; but I have not been able 
to put my hand upon it. 

I have, however, a most vivid recollection of 
these occurrences as I have narrated them, and no 
one could have witnessed them without the convic- 
tion that the utmost coolness, good judgment, and 
intrepidity were conspicuously exhibited by General 
Lyman on that occasion, and that he fully met all 
the claims upon him as the Chief Magistrate of a 
great city. 

Boston, February 1, 1870. 

Now here are three persons who write of their 
own prompting and without collusion, twenty years 
after Mr. Lyman's death, and who never read the 
private manuscript quoted above ; yet they all con- 
firm his words in a remarkable manner. 

In the face of this testimony, Mr. Philhps would 
have us believe that this Magistrate did, in that very 
hour, at some place not designated, employ servile 
pleadings with these same rioters. About a matter 
so distinct in itself, such opposite statements are 
not to be reconciled by attributing them to faults 
of memory or of hearing. Either, then, Mr. PhilHps 
bears false witness against his neighbor, or these 
three persons have, without previous consultation, 
all told exactly the same falsehood. The reader is 
at liberty to render judgment on the evidence. 



47 



Charge B. That the Mayor never sovght to com- 
mand the moh, nor did he issue any order. 

Colonel Sever (No. XL) expressly says, "com- 
manding them to disperse and go peaceably to their 
homes " ; and the words and spirit of the other docu- 
ments (Nos. IX., X., &c.) fully bear out this expres- 
sion. In the Liberator of November, 183-5, "Another 
Abolitionist" says, "He declared that the law should 
be supported, if it cost him his life, and ordered them 
[the rabble] to disperse." Mr. Phillips (No. II.) says, 
"Had he issued one command, even one that was 
disobeyed, I should have honored him." I hereby 
call on Mr. Phillips publicly to make good this his 
written promise ! 

Charge C. That he consented, if he did not assist, 
at tearing doivn the Antislavery sign and throwing it 
to the moh, to i^ropitiate its rage. 

That the sign was taken down and thrown to the 
mob and broken up are facts needing no proof; 
that the Mayor ordered the sign to be taken down I 
do not deny, for he expressly says, " I sent a person 
to see if this sign could be taken into the room from 
the window," &c. (No. V. page 20) ; but that he or- 
dered it throivn to the moh, or consented thereto,'is 
a petty and malignant supposition which can only 
be admitted on the 'most emphatic evidence. The 
newspaper sentences quoted in No. lY. are no evi- 
dence ; such reports are only hearsay. The testi- 
mony of Mr. L. B. Marsh does not touch the point. 
Even supposing that Mr. Harry Williams removed 
the sign and spoke those exact words, they do not 
convey the meaning that the Mayor ordered the 



48 



sign thrown down. Those who remember Mr. Wil- 
liams as well as I do will be inclined to smile at 
seeing a person of his singularly eccentric and '' in- 
dependent " character quoted as one who would be 
likely to do as he was " directed." Mr. J. B. Palmer 
reports the words of Williams thus, " By order of the 
Mayor the sign would be 7^emoi)ecV'' ; and this state- 
ment (by whomever uttered) was a correct one. He 
did order the sign taken into the room, for sensible 
reasons referred to in the passage above ; and Mr. 
PhilHps is shooting at rovers when he brings an 
array of witnesses to prove a point that nobody 
denies. 

What I offered to prove was (No. III.) that the 
Mayor " did not assist in, or consent to, the throwing 
of the sign to the moh." Mr. N. B. Chamberlain 
(No. IV.) reports that he and Harry Williams met 
the Mayor on the steps of the Old State House, and 
that the latter, " agitated and in fearful doubt," con- 
sented to have the sign taken down. This report 
may be summarily dealt with. He says he saw and 
talked with the Mayor on the steps of the Old State 
House. If so, he talked with what the demonologists 
call a "vicarious image," because Mr. Lyman loas 
not there. As Mr. Phillips and Mr. Garrison, both 
principal parties in this dispute, have called them- 
selves into court as witnesses (Nos. II., IV.) it is 
proper that another principal should be heard. The 
Mayor may jnstly be supposed to know ivhere he 
loas on that day; and, since he had no motive for 
falsehood in this particular case, his word should 
have authority. He says (page 18), " Up to this 



49 



time I had left my position on the staircase hut once " 
(to confer with the women); and again (page 19), 
" I returned to my position at the bottom of the 
staircase, in the passage-way, wliich I did not again 
quit till the mob rushed up Washington Street." 
That is to say, he was constantly in the Antislavery 
buildino- from the outset of the riot until Garrison 
was taken ; which period, of course, includes that 
referred to by Mr. Chamberlain. Evidently, then, 
Mr. Chamberlain talked to somebody whom he 
mistook for the Mayor. Mr. John H. Thorndike 
(No. IX.) testifies that Mr. John L. Dimmock really 
played the leading part, and said, " You had better 
take in" [not throw down) "that sign." Mr. Garri- 
son (page 34) says the Mayor was so alarmed that, 
in very w^eakness of spirit, he ordered the sign 
hurled to the rioters. Unfortunately, Mr. Garrison 
was just then hiding in the garret, and so his testi- 
mony is nothing ; but Mr. Sewall, who uses the 
measured language of a trained lawyer, says (page 
28) Mr. Lyman sanctioned the removal, which is the 
exact truth. 

In fact, the case is simple enough to any person 
of common sense. The Mayor deemed it wise to 
take the sign into the room ; he sent somebody (no 
matter whether Williams or not) to do it ; this per- 
son, either from folly or because others interfered, 
(and this again is of no consequence,) threw the 
board into the street. 

To live in 1870 and to look back with a clear eye 
to 1835 is difficult. Consider the position of a good 
citizen in 1835. Slavery existed, and it is the great- 

7 



50 



est mistake to think it was not then lamented as an 
evil and a sin. But the question was how to get 
rid of it. The wise said : If Ave open the question, 
the master will strain the negro's bonds tighter ; if 
we persist, there will be civil war, and that is a 
horror Avith which no one has a right to charge his 
conscience. 

And Avhat is to-day the fact of history ? It has 
pleased God to lead us to liberty over the dead 
bodies of half a million men. Were our fathers 
weak tremblers because they shrunk from giving 
their children to the sword ? They could not know 
that war would bring about liberty. Therefore 
they deprecated agitation, when there was no good 
plan for action. And in so doing they Avere inght, — 
absolutely right! And the Extremists, who Avent 
beyond patient argument and charitable thought, 
Avere wrong. 

When Ave Avere brought to the terrible pass of 
civil AA^ar, the sober-minded and prudent, — in fact, 
the men of action, — seeing the inevitable upon 
them, rose in their might, and they — and they 
alone — fought the good fight and saved the Union 
and freed the slave. If any one doubts this, let 
him think of the names of Grant, Meade, Sherman, 
Thomas, Sheridan; of Lincoln, ScAA^ard, Stanton, Fes- 
senden, Adams, AndrcAV. And let him find, if he 
can, the name of an Extremist Avho really did any- 
thing notable in the strug-orle. 

Charge D. That he broke his jiledge made to the 
Female Antislavery Society f 

This, in its vagueness, reminds one of the cele- 



51 



brated accusation hurled by Dr. Johnson against the 
fishwoman, that "she kept an isosceles triangle in 
her back garret." We may pass over this charge, 
until it gets its specifications. 

Charge E. That he ordered said Society to dis- 
perse. 

Mr. Phillips (No. 11.) and Mr. Garrison (page 34) 
say he ordered the meeting to disperse. Neither of 
'them saw anything. Mr. Phillips was hanging his 
head, on the pavement ; Mr. Garrison was seeking a 
refuge in the upper stor}^ Mr. Sewall (page 28) 
says he " urged the ladies to retire," and, as a Avarm 
friend of Mr. Garrison and a man of high integrity, 
we may safely assume that he was at pains to find 
out the truth. Mr. L3aiian (the only witness pres- 
ent) agrees to Mr, Se wall's account, and says (page 
17) that he w^ent up stairs to advise them to with- 
draw ; and, further on, " The women seemed very 
willing to leave the room. I heard no objection ex- 
pressed, beyond the remark already mentioned, in 
regard to martyrdom" (page 18). 

There is nothins: hard to understand in all this. 
Here were a score of women in a room ; the street 
was filled by a noisy and threatening mob ; night 
was coming on ; at any moment stones might be 
thrown through the windows, or an attempt might 
be made to force the doors. Was it not, in such a 
case, the part of a considerate gentleman to ad- 
vise and urge women to withdraw ? And was it 
not a sensible thing in them to seek a place of 
safety ? 

Charge F. That he had ample means to control 



52 



the moh, and should have shot ten men ; hut did not 
control, and did not shoot. 

This charge may best be considered under t^YO 
heads, — [a) the means to control the mob; (6) the 
propriety of shooting ten men. 

The means of controlhng mobs are the police and 
the militar}^ In 1835 Boston had no police, as we now 
understand that word. There were about thirty night 
watchmen who went on duty for alternate nights, 
making some sixty men in all. They were under 
the orders of the Captain of the Watch, who was an 
officer independent of the City Marshal. During 
the day they pursued their callings, most of them 
being teamsters or truckmen ; and it w^as only at 
night, when they reported for duty at their watch- 
houses, that they could be certainly counted on. 
When the Mayor says (page 23) that he had " all 
the watch on the alert," he means that the whole of 
the men, instead of one half, were put on duty dur- 
ing the night of the riot. Of day patrolmen there 
were none ; but there were fifteen constables who 
had offices in the city, and who gained their living 
by keeping order in the courts, serving subpoenas^ 
writs of ejectment, and the like. Of these there 
were Jive who were generally, but not always, em- 
ployed by the city to patrol the disorderly quarters 
during the day. They were under the orders of the 
City Marshal, who, in 1832, had been authorized to 
command all " constables in the service of the city." 
It is fair to assume that the Mayor could, at any 
time, send for these five men during the day ; but, 
beyond them, he had to rely, in sudden emergencies, 



53 



on such of the ordinary constables as could be 
found, and were not too old for duty, and on such 
of the night watchmen as could be found, and were 
willing to leave their work. 

In 1835 the population of Boston was 78,603, and 
the available day police was six men, including the 
City Marshal. In 1869 the population, within the 
old limits, was not for from 200,000, and the regular 
police, exclusive of constables, about fom" hundred 
and fifty men, all well armed, and subjected to a mili- 
tary discipline under their captains, lieutenants, and 
sergeants.'^"- 

The reader will now understand the words of the 
Mayor (page 18), when he says he had " no means of 
procuring an additional force till after dark." 

The following letter will be found to refer inci- 
dentally to the police of that time. 

No. XII. 

LETTER FROM HON. JOSIAH QUINCY TO THE 
EDITOR. 

I herewith, at your request, send an extract from 
my journal of Wednesday the 21st of October, 
1835: — 

" Forenoon at office. In the afternoon a mob as- 
sembled in order to prevent a meeting of the Female 
Antislavery Society. No great outrages were com- 
mitted, although, when I saw Garrison in the hands 
of the mob, I feared he might be seriously injured, 

* Some of these details will be found in the entertaining little book 
by Captain E. H. Savage, " Police Recollections." 



54 



as he would have been had it not been for the 
promjDt and spirited interference of Mr. Lyman, the 

Mayor Went down twice in the evening to 

tender my services to the Mayor, but they were not 
needed." 

On that afternoon I was at my office. No. 27 State 
Street, which commanded a view of the entire length 
of Wilson's Lane : my attention was attracted by the 
shouts of a multitude. On going to my window I 
saw a crowd approaching, with Mr. Garrison in its 
midst. As I was President of the Council, I rushed 
down and forced myself into his immediate vicinity, 
and remained at his side until he was placed in a 
carriage, and drove off. My opinion of the action of 
your flither is stated as above, in the record I made 
on the same evening. 

Li judging of the situation of the Mayor, it should 
be remembered, that the action of the mob was 
unexpected ; that the whole police force at that time 
consisted of a few superannuated constables, whose 
principal duty was to attend the courts ; and the 
night watchmen who were not on duty. As to call- 
ing out the militia, he had no time to do it, even if 
it had been advisable, which it was not. Fears were 
entertained that there would be another outbreak at 
night, and a number of citizens enrolled themselves 
as special constables and reported during the even- 
ing to the Mayor for orders, which, fortunately, he 
was not obliged to give. 

No one who knew your father as I did could ever 
have suspected him of a want of energy, spirit, or 
courage. 

Boston, January. 7, 1870. 



56 



Mr. Guild (No. YIII.) speaks of the force that 
rescued Garrison as " not more than ten or fifteen 
men," and these embraced the Mayor, the Sheriff, the 
City Marshal, and apparently some citizen vohm- 
teers (not, however, including Mr. Wendell Phillips). 
If this force was " ample " to control two or three 
streets full of angry peoj^le, it is quite clear that our 
present day police is conducted on an extravagant 
scale, and should at once be reduced to thirteen 
patrolmen, which would be the relative proportion 
to the population. 

(b.) The p'opriety of sJiooting ten men. One is 
led first to ask. How were they to be shot ? The 
authorities were having a hard time in keeping 
the building clear. They had no guns or pistols ; 
scarcely good stout sticks. It would not have been 
a very usual course to send about and ask for volun- 
teers, with fowling-pieces and king's arms, to fire 
promiscuously into the crow^l. As to calling on the 
militia, that method w^ill presently be considered. 
But this much may be said in regard to shooting in 
general, — a bullet does not pick and choose ; it wall 
go through a good man as likely as through a bad 
one. Now there were in that mob many good men, 
friends of order and friends of Mr. Garrison. The 
Mayor testifies (page 21) that ten or fifteen persons 
cried out, " They are going to hang him ; for God's 
sake, save him! " and Mr. Garrison (page 36) speaks 
of sympathy showed him by persons in the crowd. 
There comes to us, then, this solemn question : Does 
Mr. Phillips advocate killing certain worthy citizens, 
in order that his ten mobocrats may be sent to their 



56 



deserved graves ? Perhaps he thinks the good men 
had no busmess there, and that they should have 
gone home, as he did, leaving the regular authorities, 
and the rioters, and Mr. Garrison, to settle it among 
themselves as best they might. 

As to calling out the mihtia, and getting the ten 
men shot out of hand, the Mayor had no more 
authority to do it than had Mr. Philhps himself. 
The legal process by which the militia could be got 
on the ground would have taken all night for its 
execution. 

It may be profitable here to examine the law in 
regard to the conduct of the military in quelling 
disturbances. 

(1.) By ivhat 2?7'ocess could a Mayor call out the 
militia to svjypress a moh f 

Mayors of cities had no statute authority, under 
the laws of the Commonwealth, to issue orders 
directly to the militia, until the year 1840. (Ch. 92, 
sec. 27.) 

Previous to that time, judges of certain courts, 
and the sheriff of any county, within his precinct, 
could issue warrants to the military officer com- 
manding the battalion or company nearest the 
scene of disturbance, to quell the riot. (Rev. Stat. 
12, 134. But the Act of 1840 added, in explicit 
terms, " the Mayor of any city." 

By the constitution of Massachusetts (1780, ch. 
2, sec. 1, art. 7), the mihtia were placed entirely 
in the control of the Governor as commander-in- 
chief, and this would effectually cut off any common- 
law duties of mayors under the English system. 



57 



Moreover, the Acts of 1787, cli. 59, point out the 
manner in which the Mayor shall act in case the 
militia are needed, viz. he shall notify the Governor 
as commander-in-chief that the militia are wanted, 
and here his power ends.* 

One or two English cases are, however, instructive 
on this point, viz. Rex v. Pinney, 5 Carrington and 
Paine's Reports, 254. Here the judge said, " It is no 
part of the duty of a magistrate to go out and head 
the constables, neither is it any part of his duty to 
marshal and arrange them; if he gives the military 
orders to act, it is all that the law requires of him." 

This was an information against the Mayor of 
Bristol for alleged negligence in quelling a riot, and 
seems conclusive as to the point that in England 
much discretionary power is given to the military. 

* The following is the language of the Acts of 1787, ch. 59, relative 
to more speedy and effectual suppression of Tumults, &c., &c. 

" Sec. 2. Be it enacted, &c., That if in the opinion of the sheriff, or any 
two of the justices either of the Supreme Judicial Court, or of the Court 
of Common Pleas in any of the Counties of this Commonwealth, it shall 
be necessary for the suppression of any insurrection existing or appre- 
hended, as aforesaid, in said County, that a force shall be instantly raised 
and called forth for that purpose ; and if, by reason of distance, the 
necessary aid cannot be obtained by order of the commander-in-chief, it 
shall be the duty of such sheriff or justices to certify the same under his 
or their hand to the major-general or commanding officer of the division, 
wherein such county lies, or the commanding officer of some regiment or 
corps in the vicinity, and to request him or them to detach the whole or 
such number of the militia under the command of such officer for the 
support of the civil authority, as the said justices or sheriff may think 
necessary to defeat the purposes of such insurgents, and to apprehend 
and safely keep them for trial, and, as soon as may be, to give notice of 
such application to the commander-in-chief, that he may take the neces- 
sary orders thereon, and it shall be the duty of such major-general or 
commanding officer to detach such number of the militia, as shall be re- 
quested as aforesaid, armed and equipped according to law ; the militia so 
8 



58 



To sum up the first proposition then : in 1835, a 
Mayor i^er se could not call out the militia, having 
power only to suggest to the Governor that an 
exigency had arisen calling for military force. 

(2.) Under what circumstances may magistrates 
fire on a mob, and after what j^reliminaries f 

This question is a broader one than the other, 
and one in regard to which the authorities are 
somewhat conflicting. 

By the English Statute 2 Geo. I. c. 5 (com- 
monly called the Riot Act), it was provided that, " if 
any riotous assembly did not disperse within one 
hour after proclamation " (made in due form provided 
in the act), " the officers of the law should seize and 
apprehend them" (enumerating sheriffs, mayors of 
cities, &c., &c., as such officers) ; and " if any persons 

detached and collected shall afford their assistance to and be under the 
control of the civil officer or magistrate, unless in case of a rebellion 
declared by the legislature." 

At this time, and until after 1835, there was no form prescribed for the 
certificate " under the hand of said officers," but the Revised Statutes 
gave one in substance, as follows : — 



WARRANT. 



CommomoeaWi of Massachusetts. — Suffolk ss. 

To A. B., Commanding First Division M. V. M. 

Whereas, it has been made to aj^pear to me, C. D., Sheriff of said 
County, that there is threatened a tumult, riot, and mob of a body of 
men, acting together by force with intent to offer violence to persons and 
property, and by force and violence to break and resist the laws of this 
Commonwealth in said County of Suffolk, and that military force is 
necessary to aid the civil authorities in suppressing the same. Now, 
therefore, I command you to parade (specifying the force) in due form 
according to law. Hereof fail not at your peril, &c., &c. 

Some such form as this was probably used in 1835. 



59 



so unlawfully, tumultuously, and riotously assembled, 
or any of them, should happen to be killed, maimed, 
or hurt in the dispersing, seizing, or apprehending, 
by reason of their resisting the person so dispersing, 
seizing, or apprehending, the said officers shall be 
held harmless from all private action or criminal 
prosecution on account of the killing or maiming as 
aforesaid." 

This statute only embodied the common law, for 
Blackstone in his Commentaries (IV. 180) declares 
that the powers of magistrates were the same before 
the Riot Act ; it would seem, therefore, that magis- 
trates would be safe in obeying their own convictions. 
The decisions, however, do not bear out this idea. 

In 1768 (after the Riot Act), Mr. Gillam, an ex- 
cellent magistrate of the County of Surrey, was tried 
for his life at the Old Bailey, for ordering the militia 
to fire, in a riot in St. George's Fields, after long and 
patiently enduring the provocations of the rioters, 
and twice reading the Riot Act ; of this case we have, 
unfortunately, no full report, as the Nisi Prius Re- 
ports did not begin until 1810, or thereabouts. As 
the result of this, during the Lord Gordon riots, 
the civil officers were unwilling to take any respon- 
sibility ; and they were therefore severely blamed. 

This case shows the tenor of the judicial decisions 
in the matter ; for every English court has been very 
careful in its construction of the act, — never justify- 
ing firing on a mob unless it is proved to be a last 
resort. 

The act itself justifies killing or maiming only 
when the rioters resist the seizing, &c., &c. 



60 



According to the authorities on justifiable homicide, 
no officer, civil or military, is justified in firing on a 
mob and killing a rioter, unless he is satisfied the 
riot can be quelled in no other way. Judge Hoar, 
in his charge to the Suffolk Grand Jury in 1854 (17 
Law Reporter, 168), speaks of this point; he intimates 
that so many lives are risked by^ any discharge of 
fire-arms by military, the innocent often suffering 
with the guilty, that officers should wait to the last 
moment before firing. 

To sum up : no order to fire should ever be given 
while the authorities feel that any expedient remains 
untried ; and they are so strictly responsible in their 
exercise of discretionary power, that they are person- 
ally liable to indictment for murder if they show 
any negligence, or too great zeal. 

Now as to the preliminaries to be observed before 
firing. In England the Riot Act, or that part em- 
bracing the proclamation, must be read as near the 
riot as the officers can come with safety, and then, if 
the mob does not disperse within one hour, the 
military may fire. 

This custom has, however, never been generally 
adopted in this country.* 

* On April 8, 1835, a statute was passed following almost literally the 
words of the English Riot Act, the following being a brief abstract of 
it: — 

An Act more effectually to suppress Riots. 

CXL. 1835. 

• Sec. 1. Be it enacted, &c., &c., That if persons to the number of 
twelve or more, armed with dangerous weapons, or if persons to the 
number of thirty or more, armed or unarmed, shall be riotously, tumul- 
tuously, or unlawfully assembled in any city, town, or district in this 



61 



In this country, therefore, the preliminaries before 
firing would vary in each case, and cannot be defined 
in general terms ; the law, however, would demand 
that proper warning should be given to a mob before 
they are fired upon, and on a trial of soldiers for 
homicide by firing on mobs, it would be a question 
for the jury whether proper warning was given. 

Having considered the charges preferred by Mr. 
Phillips in Nos. II. and IV., I would gladly have left 
the discussion in its simplicity, and without extend- 
ing it to other persons. And this might have been 
done, were it not for the note of Mr. Garrison at the 
end of No. IV. Therein he not only denies that he 
was willing to go to jail, but uses this sweeping ex- 
pression, " You are certainly right in your criticisms 

Commonwealth, it shall be the duty of the mayor of such city (select- 
men, justices of the peace, &c., &c.) to go among such persons, or as near 
as may be safe, and to command them to disperse 5 and if they do not 
disperse, said officers may take them in custody ; said officers may also 
command all bystanders to assist them, and persons refusing shall be 
deemed rioters and treated accordingly. 

Sec. 2. Be it enacted further, That it shall be the duty of the mayor 
and aldermen of any city, and every justice of the peace, and selectmen 
of any town or district, and the sheriff of the county or either of his 
deputies, whenever any persons shall be unlawfully assembled as afore- 
said, to immediately proceed to the place of their assembling, or as near 
thereto as safely' may be, and to take such measures as are herein pro- 
vided, to disperse such assembled persons ; and each and every of the 
aforesaid magistrates and officers, who, knowing of such unlawful and 
tumultuous assembly, shall neglect or refuse to proceed as aforesaid, or 
who shall wilfully or negligently omit to exercise the authority with 
which he is invested by this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemea- 
nor, and shall be liable to pay a fine not exceeding S300 for every 
offence, to be recovered in any court competent to try the same. 

Sec. 3. That if any persons assembled as aforesaid, after command 
given to them to disperse as above, shall refuse or neglect to do so with- 



62 



of Mayor Lyman's conduct," — which can mean 
nothing less than that Mr. PhiUips is right in his 
charges, A to F inclusive ! 

I wish Mr. Garrison could be kept out of this part 
of the discussion. He has shown himself a notable 
man, perhaps even a great one. He had a high and 
noble idea which was pursued, with an almost heroic 
constancy, to its triumph. 

No one can be surprised that Mr. Garrison felt in- 
dignant, after his experience in the riot. Nothing 
can be more annoying, or harder to bear, than that 
mingling of the tragic and the ludicrous which ac- 
companies maltreatment by a cowardly and mis- 
chievous mob. But' he should not vent his feelings 
on the magistrate who honestly defended him ; or 

out unnecessary delay, any two of the magistrates or officers aforesaid 
may require the aid of a sufficient number of persons, in arms or other- 
wise, and may proceed to take such measures as in the judgment of such 
two magistrates or officers are expedient to disperse said tumultuous as- 
sembly, and to seize and secure the persons composing the same ; and if 
any such persons, or any other person then being present, as spectators 
or otherwise, shall be killed or wounded by reason of the efforts of said two 
magistrates or officers to disperse said assembly, said officers and magis- 
trates shall, as also persons acting under their direction, be held guiltless 
and justified in law ; but if said magistrates or officers are killed, the 
rioters shall be answerable therefor. 

Approved hij the Lieutenant-Governor, April 8, 1835. 

By comparing the above with the Riot Act, it will be seen that the 
words of the two are almost identical, and as the Riot Act was in 1835 a 
part of our common law, this act is plainly nothing more than an explicit 
statement of the common law doctrine on the subject. 

It is undoubtedly this act which is referred to by " Abolitionist " in 
the Liberator (page 29) ; but he does not make clear what use the Mayor 
could make of the act, since he already had asked the aid of good 
citizens, had requested and commanded the crowd to disperse, and had 
personally, and with his constables, struggled as hard as he could with 
the mob. 



63 



carp at the means by which his person, perhaps his 
Hfe, was saved. 

Nobody thinks, or even pretends, that Mr. Garri- 
son was sent to prison to punish or disgrace him, or 
to make him appear ridiculous ; he was sent there 
for safety. Mr. Philhps talks sheer nonsense when 
he demands that Garrison's right to sleep under his 
own roof in safety should be " vindicated." No one 
denied his right to do it ; the question was whether 
he could do it on that particular night. Mr. Garri- 
son (No. IV.) speaks indignantly of " shutting an 
innocent man up in jail in order to save his life." 
Very well ; should the innocent man be left out-of- 
doors in order to lose his life ? The Mayor's first 
duty was to protect this man ; and in so doing he 
was to run no risks, he was to see that the man 
was returned to society alive and well. It was for 
him to judge how strong his police was and how 
strong the mob was, and to place the man in such 
conditions as guaranteed his safety. And for all this 
he was responsible under his oath.''"^ The real fact 
is, that Mr. Garrison, in the moment of peril, was 
only too glad to go to jail, or to any other place 
that promised security. But, when the danger was 
over, he began to doubt whether he had exhibited 
proper dignity, and had got as much martyrdom as 

" In the celebrated Doctors' Mob of 1 788, in New York, the physicians 
and medical students of that city were confined two days in the common 
prison for protection from the populace. I think you [Garrison] com- 
plain without reason of a mere formality, necessary in consequence of 
the requirements of the law, and not intended as a gratification to the 
mob or as an injury to your feelings. I refer to the charge made against 
you as a disturber of the peace." 

" Another Abolitionist " in the Liberator, December, 1835. 



64 



Tvas his due. Hence his outcry about false imprison- 
ment, and the studied care "with which, in his ac- 
count (No. A^II.), he strives to exhibit his own con- 
duct as remarkably calm, Avhile that of the Mayor is 
described as weak. He further tries to speak as 
lightly as may be of the Mayor's part in the rescue ; 
indeed, when he says (page 37) that a tremendous 
rush was made to " prevent his entering the hall," 
one would infer that he was then rescuing him- 
self. ^ 

It is not easy to prove the mental condition of a 
man at any particular moment ; nevertheless, there 
is documentary evidence sufficient to show us what 
were his real sentiments during, and directly after, 
the riot. The Mayor, whose testimony is as admis- 
sible as that of Mr. Garrison, says (page 23), " The 
usual law paper was made out, and Garrison agreed 
to go to jail on the condition (as I was informed by 
Parkman) that he should not be subject to any ex- 
pense"; and again (page 24), "Throughout the 
whole of this riot Garrison acceded cheerfully and 
readily to the measures proposed for his security 
and protection." 

Mr. Sewall (page 30) says, " I believe Mr. Garri- 
son went voluntarily to the jail." Mr. Garrison him- 
self writes in the Liberator (December 12, 1835), 
"It is true that I made no objection to leaving his 
[the Mayor's] office " ; and, inasmuch as he " left his 
office" for no other possible purpose than to go direct 
to the jail, we may accept this as a sort of Celtic 
euphuism, to be translated thus, " I went to jail, 
and was glad of the chance." As a commentary on 



65 



this translation, there may be added an extract from 
the letter of Mr. Guild (No. VIII. ), " I was informed, 
shortly after, that Mr. Garrison, in relating his ex- 
perience in a public meeting, stated, that he never 
was so glad to get into a jail in his life." 

More than this, he was (for a very short time) pos- 
itively grateful to Mr. Lyman, although he soon after 
diligently disclaimed any such emotion. The follow- 
ing letter, with the indorsement thereon, will ex- 
plain this assertion. 

No. XIII. 

COPY OF A LETTER TO MR. KNAPP, ONE OF THE 
PUBLISHERS OF THE LIBERATOR. 

My dear Sir : — 

You probably recollect, that, the morning after 
the riot in Washington Street, in the autumn of 
1835, you called on me in company wnth another 
gentleman, Mr. Cobb [?] at my office in the City 
Hall, where we had a long conversation on the 
events of the preceding day. Both you and Mr. C. 
expressed yourselves in terms, in regard to my con- 
duct, that could not but be very agreeable and flat- 
tering to me. Among other things, you said that 
you had paid a visit to Mr. Garrison that night, 
and that he remarked that he considered that he 
owed his life to the exertions I made to rescue him 
from the hands of the mob. If you still recollect 
having made this statement in substance, I shall feel 
much obliged to you for a reply to this note, to that 



66 



effect. I ought, however, to add that, in requesting 
the communication, nothing is further from my 
thoughts tlian to make any public use of it. Hav- 
ing lived for many months a life of great solitude 
and retirement, I have passed a portion of that time 
in looking over and arranging the numerous papers 
in my possession relating to the various and multi- 
fold affairs in which I was engaged, during the two 
years I held the office of Mayor. Finding many 
concerning the most important event that occurred 
while in office, — and, while reading them, the con- 
versation I had with you and Mr. Cobb [?] recurring 
fresh to my recollection, — I feel desirous to file away, 
with those I already possess, any communication you 
will take the trouble to make to me on that subject. 

I am, &c. 

Waltham, October 19, 1837. 

Will you have the goodness to direct your answer 
to this PostrOffice ? 

[Indorsement on the copy.] 

The within is a copy of a letter to Knapp, one of 
the editors or publishers of the Liberator. To my 
knowledo'e the oris-inal note was carried to the of- 
fice of the Liberator, but I never received any answer 
to it. 

It is perfectly and distinctly fresh in my recollec- 
tion that Knapp told me, on the occasion men- 
tioned in this note, that Garrison told him, the night 
of the riot, 21st October, 1835, that he. Garrison, 
owed his life to my exertions to protect and rescue 
him from the hands of the mob. 



67 

It is also as fresh in my mind that Sheriff Park- 
man told me, the day after the riot, that Garrison 
made the same statement to him respecting my 
conduct. 

THEODORE LYMAN. 

The following official paper will prove how accu- 
rate was the memory of Mr. Lyman. 

No. XIV. 

STATEMENT BY ASSISTANT-MARSHAL WELLS. 

Boston, 1835. 

I have deemed it expedient, for various reasons, 
to make a record of the following facts : — 

A meeting of the Boston Female Antislavery 
Society was notified to be held at the rooms of the 
Massachusetts Antislavery Society, No. 46 Wash- 
ington Street, on the afternoon of October 21, 
1835, at which time several addresses w^ould be 
made. In consequence of the strong prejudice ex- 
isting in the minds of the citizens of Boston against 
the proceedings of the Abolitionists, especially those 
of Mr. George Thompson, the Mayor of the city in- 
structed me to ascertain from the Antislavery office 
if the said Thompson was to address the meeting, 
or if he had left the city ; at the same time to in- 
form them of the object of the inquiry, which was, 
that if Thompson was to make an address, that the 
Mayor might be provided with sufficient force to 
quell the riot which would immediately ensue, or if 
he had left the city, that he might state that fact. 
On receiving these instructions, I immediately called 



68 



at their office, and obtained an interview with Wil- 
liam L. Garrison, one of the leading Abolitionists 
and editors of the Liberator. He seemed rather to 
question the authority of the Mayor thus to inter- 
fere in their affairs, but on my assuring him that 
the only object the Mayor had in view, in eliciting 
the information, was to do all he could to preserve 
the peace of the city ; and also, stating to him 
that, in case Mr. T. did address the meeting, it was 
feared a riot would take place, and that blood might 
be shed, he gave me the desired information, but it 
seemed to me with great reluctance, undoubtedly 
thinking that a different motive other than the true 
one prompted the inquiry. 

I should not omit to mention that subsequently 
to the morning interview''' hoth Mr. Garinson and 
Mr. Knaj^i^ told me that he [Mr. G.) owed his life, 
under God, to the Mayor. I more readily make this 
last statement, having understood that Mr. Garrison 
has indulged in very violent and ungrateful lan- 
guage upon the conduct of the Mayor of the city 
on that day. 

This is, as near as I can recollect, the substance of 
the interview with Mr. Garrison on Wednesday, 
October 21, 1835. I had further conversation with 
Mr. Garrison on the expediency of holding their 
meetings during the highly excited state of the 
community on this occasion, but which I do not 
think relevant to the present statement. 

CHARLES B. WELLS, 

One of the Assistant-MarsliaJs] of the City of Boston. 

* That is to say, after the riot had occurred. — Ed. 
t At that time there were two Assistant Marshals, and their duties 
corresponded pretty nearly to those of our present Health Officers. — Ed. 



69 



Mr. Charles B. Wells lias this day informed me 
that he wrote the paper to which this certificate is 
attached. 

I am personally well acquainted with Mr. Wells ; 
he has been iu the service of the city over thirteen 
years. 

I know the paper to be written in his hand- 
writing, with which I am also acquainted. 

S A:\IUEL F. Mc CLE art, City Clerk. 
Boston, February 14, 1848. 

The foregoing testimony conclusively proves, — 

1. That Mr. Garrison went cheerfully, and of his 
own free-will, to jail, as to a proper place of safety. 

2. That, at one time, he was deeply grateful to 
Mr. Lyman as the preserver of his life. 

By what process of reasoning he brought himself 
to believe that he was not frightened, and did not 
wish to go to jail, and was not saved by the Mayor, 
is unimportant. His friends will perhaps speak of 
his conduct as a change of belief; I should be in- 
clined to express it by the more simple term, 
ingratitude. 

I have spoken of the matter of Mr. Phillips's 
charges ; and it remains only to speak of their 
manner. 

In his lecture of November 1st, the style of his 
attack on the Mayor is his normal one, it might 
be called his average every-day abuse. (No. I.) 
When brought suddenly to defend himself, his old 
legal instincts rise within hjm, and a certain un- 



70 



wonted caution is to be observed. The Mayor is no 
longer "almost on liis knees," but is, '^ metajjhorically 
speaking, on his knees " ; and he is at pains to sum- 
mon witnesses to make his case good. (Nos. II. 
and lY.) 

A couple of weeks later he delivered what he 
was pleased to term a repetition of his discourse, at 
Steinway Hall in New York. Here he failed not to 
make up for any little constraint he might have felt 
in Boston, as the following sentences will show : — 



Boston Lecture, Nov. 1. 

" He saw the Mayoi" 
of the city, cap in 
hand, ahiiost on his 
knees, entreating the 
men who were his so- 
cial companions to 
have the kindness to 
obey the laws." 



Newspaper Discussion. 

" Mayor Lyman be- 
sought instead of com- 
manding that day, and 
was, metaphorically 
speaking, on his knees 
to the mob." 



New York Lecture, 
Nov. 16. 

" I saw the Mayor, 
the representative of 
law and magistracy, en- 
treating, suing like a 
spaniel, beseeching like 
a beggar, this crowd of 
his social companions, to 
respect the law. I saw 
the turbulent defiance, 
the derisive laugh, with 
which his good-natured 
appeals were received. 
I saw him descend 
lower and lower in his 
appeals to the mercy 
of the mob, that they 
would spare his office." 



Whence these additions, — this increased venom ? 
Do they reveal the uncontrolled indignation of a 
patriot against meanness and incompetency ? or do 
they betray the anger of a coward, who seeks to 
exasperate the living by insulting the dead? 

Who was this person who is spoken of as a 



71 



spaniel, a beggar, and a panderer to the worst pas- 
sions of mobs? 

Perhaps Carlyle might have called him "an inar- 
ticulate man " j for he never got on platforms to tell 
how good he was, or how bad others were. He was 
one of those whose right hand did much, and the 
left knew it not; one who never turned the poor 
from his door; one who was a leader in many move- 
ments for the improvement of mankind. Even Mr. 
Phillips, tingling though he was under the public 
exposure of a base calumny, was forced to say of 
him, " His services to the cause of education are an 
honor to his memory." 

Such actions go to make a good citizen. He, 
however, did something more. First in this country 
he established the principle that young culprits are 
not to be cast, like lost felons, into a common prison, 
but are to have a chance for better lives. He 
founded the State Reform School, and endowed it 
with seventy thousand dollars of his money. Only 
after his death was it known who had conferred this 
benefit on the Commonwealth. 

The Rebellion was Mr. Phillips's opportunity. 
Here was the harvest-time of the seed he had sown 
for many seasons. How feebly did he put in the 
sickle ! 

Yet he had good models to follow. If Thucydides 
writes true history, Mr. Phillips has copied closely 
the oratory of a demagogue who lived more than 
two thousand years ago. Cleon, the Athenian 
leather-dresser, had that very way of saying what 



72 



ought to be done, in the most violent and most 
dogmatic words the Attic dialect could furnish. But 
Cleon could do more than talk. Witness his con- 
duct in the affiiir of Pylos. "Give me," he said, 
" the troops now in the city, in addition to those in 
Pylos, and I will die for it, but within three weeks 
I bring you those Spartans prisoners of war ! " * 
"You shall command," shouted the Demos, think- 
ing it the best joke of the season. Cleon went to 
Pylos, stormed the Spartan camp, and was back 
again with his prisoners within the time fixed. 
Doubtless he was a demagogue, and a dangerous 
one ; but he was no poltroon, and met his death at 
last on the field. 

Mr. Phillips, with a burst of Cleonian eloquence, 
cries out that in the war he sees salvation, and that 
every act of his life moves him to give it a hearty 
and hot welcome.^ 

Why, then, did he not go to the war ? Was he 
a non-resistant? Non-resistants do not wish ten men 
sent to bloody graves for maltreating Mr. Garrison. 
Was he sick or feeble ? An orator who can pace a 

* ravra de e^^cou e(pT] irphs Tois eV Hi^Xw arpaTiMTais iurbs fjfiepdv 

(iKoaiv T] a^eiv AaKfScuiiouiovs ^covras tj airov dnoKTevflv. 

Koi Tov KXecoro? KOinep fiavi6i8r]s ovaa fj V7r6<7)(ecns dnfj^r} • fvros 

yap (LKoaiv rjpepwv rjyayq rods uv8pas Sxrirep invecrTrj. 

QovKvhlbov Avyy pa(j}r]s, IV. 28, 39. 

t On April 21, 1861, be said in Boston: "Every act of my life has 

tended to make the welcome I give this war hearty and hot The 

first cannon-shot upon our forts has put the war-cry of the Revolu- 
tion on her lip? No man can prevail against the North in the 

nineteenth century." He also spoke of the " Abolitionists who thank 
God that He has let them see salvation before they die." — Schouler's 
Massachusetts in the Civil War, p. 113. 



73 



stage by the hour and shout slander to two thousand 
people, might well sit on a horse and cry "Forward!" 
to a brigade of infantry. Was he too ignorant or 
too old ? General James Wadsworth was the older 
man, and knew no more than he of military art. 
I saw General Wadsworth with his gray hair, as he 
rode, at the head of his division, into the thickets of 
the Wilderness. And there, in the forefront of the 
battle, he fell, — a simple gentleman, who did not 
think he could do more good by staying at home. 

The War was Mr. Phillips's opportunity. Brave 
deeds would have compelled men to bury under 
laiu'els the memory of his slanderous abuse and 
murderous eloquence. But he lost that opportunity : 
and posterity will remember only his eloquence, his 
bitterness, his injustice, and his cowardice. 



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